Men's Basketball Drops Home Game to No. 12 MidAmerica Nazarene

Marshall, Mo., (Nov. 15, 2023)- The Missouri Valley College men's and women's basketball teams hosted MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) in the opening Heart of America Athletic Conference doubleheader of the season.  The women's team went into overtime and earned an 84-78 win over the No. 20 Pioneers.  The men's team fell to No. 12 MNU, 103-81.

Junior J'Luan Patterson (Belleville, Ill.) put in the opening two field goals for Missouri Valley to move the team on top, 5-0, with less than two minutes played in the men's contest.  Patterson added another field goal one minute later to make it a 9-5 advantage.  MidAmerica Nazarene worked back to claim its first lead of the game, 10-9, but Senior Vincent Taylor (Dallas, Texas) sank a free throw to tie the teams five minutes into play.  The two teams traded points over the next several minutes, as five points from Junior Dylan Driver (Covington, Ga.) brought MVC to within a 20-18 deficit at the 12-minute mark. Junior Cawhan Smith (Collinsville, Mo.) added a jumper to put the Vikings ahead one minute later, 21-20.  The teams traded points over the next several minutes.  Junior Jarrius Burnett (Covington, Ga.) added a three-pointer with just over eight minutes to play in the half to put MVC in a 27-26 deficit.  Burnett added a field goal, then a free throw to make it a 32-29 score, while Taylor came through with a layup to bring the Viking gap down to 34-31 at the six-minute mark.  The Pioneers scored the next seven points and built its first double-digit advantage of the contest, 41-31, just over one minute later.  A pair of free throws from Smith and a three-point basket from Junior Jace Lance (Marshall, Mo.) put the deficit at 43-36 with three minutes remaining in the half.  Missouri Valley got down to a 46-42 score late in the half on a Junior Geovonni Floyd (Bowling Green, Ky.) dunk, but MNU went into the break holding a 50-42 lead.

Scoring after halftime began on a Taylor layup, but MidAmerica Nazarene worked out to a 56-44 lead with three minutes played after the restart.  Missouri Valley was unable to trim the deficit back to single-digits through the rest of the half.  The Pioneers gradually added to their advantage through the rest of play, and defeated the Vikings, 103-81.

Patterson led with 13 points, while Driver came off the bench to score 12 points.  Taylor added 11 points and eight rebounds, and Smith totaled 11 points.  Burnett came through with 10 points.  Missouri Valley forced MNU into 18 turnovers.

Missouri Valley drops to 1-4 overall and 0-1 in the conference.  MidAmerica Nazarene improves to 2-1 on the season and 1-0 in the Heart.

Up next, the Viking basketball teams will continue Heart play with a doubleheader at home against Graceland (Iowa), Sunday.  Women's game at 2 p.m., followed by the men's game at 4 p.m., inside the Burns Athletic Complex.

Box Score-Click Here

About Missouri Valley College

Known for its dynamic, richly diverse, and friendly educational environment, Missouri Valley College offers many opportunities to grow in mind, body, and spirit. Grounded in the liberal arts, undergraduate studies empower students to master interdisciplinary skills needed to succeed in a knowledge-based global society. MVC offers over 30 academic programs, study abroad program, extracurricular activities, and a wide variety of sports. The most popular majors include education and business, criminal justice and exercise science. Above all, Valley is committed to student success. For more information, call (660) 831-4000 or visit www.moval.edu.